Gone

When you come into my life don't judge me because of my past,
you don't know how it's been a not so easy task.
You scream, you holler and are so quick to say goodbye,
until you see a single tear falling from my eye.
You then want to make up for all the horrible things you said,
when you start to realize that my soul is already dead.
You beg and you plead because this wasn't supposed to happen,
But in that same moment you know that I will never be forgotten.
So please take me now and lay me down to rest,
For I will be in Heaven watching over you and trying my very best
to be there when you call me and when you need me the most,
but just remember I can't be there all the time; I am now only a ghost.

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Editor’s Note

The number one question our editors receive is—what do the editors and judges look for when judging the contest? The number one answer we give is creativity. Unlike prose, writing composed in everyday language, poetry is considered a creative art and requires a different type of effort and a certain level of depth. Of the thousands of poems entered in each contest, the ones that catch our judges’ eyes are the ones that remove us, even just slightly, from the scope of everyday life by using language that is interesting, specific, vivid, obscure, compelling, figurative, and so on. Oftentimes, poems are pulled aside for a second look based simply on certain words that intrigued the reader. So first and foremost, be sure your poetry is written using creative language. Take general ideas and make them personal. In his infamous book De/Compositions: 101 Good Poems Gone Wrong, W. D. Snodgrass imparts, “We cannot honestly discuss or represent our lives, any more than our poems, without using ideational language.”